April 12, 2008 - Massachusetts (MA) Likely to Increase Tobacco tax.. On Thursday, April 10th The MA House voted 131 - 23 to impose an additional one dollar per pack on cigarettes. The House stipulated in the new tax bill that the cigarette tax, supported by Gov. Deval L. Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray, would go into effect starting July 1, 2008. Under the House bill, an estimated $175 million in new revenues from smokers would go to the Commonwealth Care insurance program. State Rep. Harold P. Naughton Jr., D-Clinton, said he voted for the cigarette tax hike because his mother who smoked, died a painful death at age 76 from lung cancer. Tax hike proponent Frank M. Hynes, D-Marshfield, said the higher prices would prevent 46,000 children from taking up smoking and pressure 26,000 adults to quit. MA tax on a pack of cigarettes would be raised from $1.51 to $2.51.Click on image to enlarge..

April 12, 2008 - A retrospective random telephone survey of Swedish smokers (985) and ex-smokers (1000) to assess to what extent SNUS has been used as an aid to stop smoking among Swedish smokers. To assess to what extent SNUS has been used as an aid to stop smoking among Swedish smokers. The study suggested that by using snus, Swedish male smokers may increase their overall chances of abstinence. However, 71% of the men in this sample who quit smoking did so without using SNUS and the duration of abstinence was not affected by SNUS use. This suggests that SNUS is NOT necessary component of smoking cessation at the population level. SNUS use was very rare among women. Role of SNUS (oral moist snuff) in smoking cessation and smoking reduction in Sweden, Gilljam et al., Addiction 98(9): 1182-9, 2003) Dr. Lars E. Rutqvist, the Vice President for Scientific Affairs at Swedish Match (the world's second largest maker of snuff and chewing tobacco and market leader in Sweden - volume share of 90% at the end of 2006) has stated the drive in SNUS sales in Sweden has been in response to the smoking ban rather than the perceived advantage to user’s health. The trend for Swedish women's smoking habits also refutes the myth that SNUS use is a necessary component to reduce smoking. Between 1977 and 2000, the proportion of daily smokers among young Swedish women - among whom SNUS is uncommon - declined 47 to 19 percent. There are no controlled studies which demonstrate the effectiveness of SNUS as a smoking cessation aid. (Who benefits from increased use of snus?) Overall smoking prevalence in Norway, as well as in young Norwegians, has decreased at the same rates in men and women during the last decade, whereas a marked increase in SNUS use during this time period has only occurred in young men. EU Scientific Committee Concludes: Insufficient Evidence to Lift Ban on SNUS. Read more...

April 11, 2008 - Philip Morris International (PMI) to Introduce Marlboro Cigarettes In China Around Time of Summer Olympics..THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED. According to a report in the Chinese Medical Journal the number of smokers in China, currently estimated to be about 350 million, is growing by about three million a year. Two out of every three young men in China smoke, as a result tobacco will eventually kill about a third of all young men in China. The report said that China had, also, about 50 million teenage smokers. In addition, about 540 million people were subjected to passive tobacco smoking, and about two-thirds of them were under 18 years of age. This meant that about two-thirds of the population either smoked or was affected by tobacco smoke. ( Three million more Chinese smokers each year, Tobacco Reporter, 4/9/2008) By 2050 there will be three million tobacco deaths a year in China - PMI is anxious to be a big contributor.

At present, PMI has a small or no presence in four major markets -- China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam which account for 40% of total international cigarette consumption. China is the largest producer and consumer of tobacco products in the world. PMI and Chinese National Tobacco Company have a strategic relationship with one aspect the launch of licensed Marlboro on the Chinese market this summer 2008. (Remarks - PMI,Inc., Investor Presentation, New York, March 11.2008 The Chinese government joined the international fight against tobacco consumption when it signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2003. It ratified the convention in October 2005 and the convention came into effect on January 9. 2006.

This treaty is to regulate tobacco companies' actions, using proven strategies: raising taxes on tobacco products, limiting smoking in public, requiring new health warnings on cigarette packages, and regulating the firms' manufacturing and marketing efforts. China is planning on a smoking-free Olympic Games - with 173 cigarette brands already why does China need Marlboro. One million people die from smoking-related diseases each year in China, according to the Ministry of Health and each year, more than 100,000 people are killed by second-hand smoke. Related news brief: China to ban all tobacco advertising by 2011.Click on image to enlarge.. (TobaccoWatch.org) Read more...

April 8, 2008 - Are adults snoozing while kids are "snusing?".. Hookah smoking yesterdays news. Sixteen year old - "The preferred method of tobacco in school these days, he said, is smokeless tobacco. The current rage is a less conspicuous product called "Snus" (pronounced "snoos"), a non-chew, no-spit oral tobacco that's stuffed between the lip and gum. One of the more popular brands, Camel Snus with the tagline will be "Pleasure for where ever, whenever", manufactured by tobacco giant RJ Reynolds, is sold in tea-bag like pouches about the size of a lozenge. Teachers can't easily detect the pouches, so kids can fly under the radar when they use it in school. Even so, the habit has become so prevalent that there have been recent announcements on the loudspeaker at my son’s high school reminding students that smokeless tobacco is a code of conduct violation. When I asked my son how common it was, he guessed that about 10 percent of the boys in his class were using it. A Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released in June 2006, revealed that the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use is closer to 14 percent among high school-aged boys and a little over 2 percent among girls. The rate varied widely across states with 4.4% usage among male students in Maryland and 26.5% in West Virginia. Overall, the percentage was highest among white male students (17.6%) and rose each year from 9th to 12th grade among male students. According to the CDC, smokeless tobacco carries four dangerous health effects: It contains 28 cancer-causing agents (carcinogens); It’s a well- known cause of cancer, increasing the risk of cancer of the mouth; Oral health problems strongly associated with smokeless tobacco use are leukoplakia (a lesion of the soft tissue that consists of a white patch or plaque that cannot be scraped off) and recession of the gums; Smokeless tobacco use can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence and adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers. It’s quite possible that kids are unaware of these warnings. the five largest smokeless tobacco manufacturers spent a new record of $250.79 million on smokeless tobacco advertising and promotion during 2005 alone. We are afraid those tobacco control people that favor the use of SNUS in harm reduction are convincing our youngsters that the product is save so give it a try. If this continues it could happen that our youngsters could be the next generation of nicotine addicts never able to reach their full potential...Youth exposed to smokeless tobacco ads despite settlement… A few related news briefs: March 4, 2008, February 21, 2008, January 20, 2008,January 14, 2008, November 27, 2007,November 20, 2007, November 1, 2007, October 23, 2007 and August 31, 2007. Also Philip Morris' Black & Mild is the most popular brand of cigars for smokers 12 and older. (TobaccoWatch.org)Read more...

April 7, 2008 - The Lorillard Tobacco, the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States, including the Newport brand, the best selling menthol cigarette in the country, Company today issued the following statement with regard to the passage of a bill H.R. 1108, the ‘Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act’ by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that would force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the tobacco industry. (Newport cigarettes, responsible for 80% Lorillard sales, are very popular among the African-American community."The Lorillard Tobacco Company opposes H.R. 1108 -- legislation that would force the FDA to regulate tobacco.

While Lorillard fully supports reasonable federal regulation of the tobacco industry, the FDA already is overworked by Congress and is the wrong agency for the job. The challenges facing FDA are well documented. Adding a new industry for the FDA to oversee when it is struggling to fulfill its core mission is misguided. It will only compromise the health and safety of millions of Americans. "This legislation also has fundamental problems.